Explore · The library

Every resource founders actually use, in one library.

The essays, videos, podcasts, books and tools behind every answer across eChai's hubs, from starting up to go-to-market, D2C, founder money and AI, each with a note on why it is here.

What founders use most, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. This explains exactly how an underwriter reads a founder: they want 2 to 3 years of ITRs, P&L, Form 26AS, and GST returns, cap... Ditto Insurance (joinditto.in) Article · 16 min read · Starting Up Best Term Insurance for Self Employed and Non-Salaried Individuals Ditto Insurance
  2. This is the citable source for the claim at the heart of your answer: Noam Wasserman's research across 10,000+ founders found... Entrepreneur Article · 6 min read · Starting Up Harvard Business School Professor Says 65% of Startups Fail for One Reason John Boitnott
  3. This is the exit-paperwork checklist a founder actually needs on the way out: it names every document you must extract before... Taggd Article · 14 min read · Starting Up 13 Critical Documents to Collect Before Leaving a Company in India Taggd Editorial Team
  4. A company-secretary firm's plain-English breakdown of the mechanics behind your ESOP exit, grounded in the actual rule (the... CSA & Associates Article · 9 min read · Starting Up Understanding Vesting, Exercise, and Lock-In in ESOPs (India) CSA & Associates
  5. This is the resource that ends the quiet side-hustle delusion with facts. It lays out exactly what the January 2025 H-1B... Alma Article · 15 min read · Starting Up H-1B Options for Startup Founders: Immigration Strategy in 2025 Alma (immigration legal team)
  6. Written by a Lightspeed India partner who actually made the move after 14 years in the US, this is the honest first-person... Medium (The Startup) Essay · 12 min read · Starting Up 6 months later: Return to India after 15yrs in the US Hemant Mohapatra
  7. Read this so you stop expecting your non-founder friends and family to understand the ride: Schroter is blunt that they cannot,... Startups.com Essay · 12 min read · Starting Up The Emotional Cost of Being a Founder Wil Schroter
  8. This is the one checklist that treats your EMI as a hard constraint, not an afterthought. It hands you the exact ratios to... Mintra FinServ Article · 18 min read · Starting Up Am I Financially Ready to Quit My Job and Start a Business? Calculator + CFP Checklist (India 2026) Mintra FinServ
  9. When your salary stops and a 90,000-a-month EMI does not, this is the playbook for not wrecking your CIBIL score in the gap. It... Business Today Article · 6 min read · Starting Up Home loan nightmare: What to do when you lose your job and are drowning in EMIs Business Today (with Animesh Hardia)
  10. Once you are self-employed, your personal CIBIL is the credit file lenders read, so this explainer earns its place by spelling... Bajaj Housing Finance Article · 8 min read · Starting Up How Business Loans Affect Your CIBIL Score and Tips to Improve It Bajaj Housing Finance
  11. This is the exact script for the ask most founders never make. It walks you through opening the door with a low-pressure... Career Contessa Article · 14 min read · Starting Up How to Ask Your Boss for a Sabbatical Career Contessa Team
  12. Named founders (Shara Senderoff, Allyson Downey, Katie Stack and others) who ran the trial run for real: they kept the paycheck... Entrepreneur Article · 8 min read · Starting Up 7 Lessons From Entrepreneurs Who Kept Their Day Jobs While Starting Their Businesses Lisa Evans
  13. This is the golden-handcuffs essay written by someone who actually walked: a senior engineer who left half a million a year... Michael Lin Writes (Substack) Essay · 12 min read · Starting Up Why I Quit a $450k Engineering Job at Netflix Michael Lin
  14. Before you let unvested RSUs decide your life, you need to actually understand what you are walking away from, and this is the... Holloway Article · 20 min read · Starting Up Vesting and Cliffs (The Holloway Guide to Equity Compensation) Andy Rachleff, Joshua Levy, and contributors
  15. Your answer tells her to plug into women-founder capital early, and this is a named, ticket-sized shortlist of exactly who... Inc42 Article · 12 min read · Starting Up 22 Inspiring Women Investors In The Indian Startup Ecosystem Inc42 Staff
  16. This is the leap your answer describes, lived out: Richa Kar came from a conservative Jamshedpur family, spent months failing... rGenie Article · 9 min read · Starting Up Richa Kar and Zivame: Overcoming Family Opposition to Build a Lingerie Empire rGenie Editorial
  17. This is the study that ends the argument, not another opinion piece. Two MIT economists plus the U.S. Census Bureau looked at... Harvard Business Review Article · 9 min read · Starting Up Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45 Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, Javier Miranda
  18. A real Indian founder's field notes on the money math the glossy posts skip: your expenses will run 2x to 3x what you plan, so... Inc42 Article · 10 min read · Starting Up My Learning While Building A Bootstrap Startup In India Pushkar Gaikwad
  19. This is the side-by-side you need before you write a single application: 30+ Indian schemes with ticket size, eligibility, and... Backrr Article · 15 min read · Starting Up Government Grants for Early-Stage Indian Startups in 2026 Backrr
  20. A named Chandigarh founder puts real numbers on the gap between the promised 60-day SISFS disbursal and the actual 4 to 5... Startupro News Article · 7 min read · Starting Up Unwanted Paperwork, Delays and Opaque Process: A Founder Exposes the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme Startupro News (featuring founder Sunil Kumar Poonia)
  21. This is the practical explainer that shows the money arriving in four milestone-tied tranches (business plan approved,... Patron Accounting Article · 10 min read · Starting Up Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS): Grant, Tranches and How Disbursement Actually Works Patron Accounting (CA firm)
  22. This gets under the hood of the single document that gates your next tranche: the utilization certificate. It walks through... CAclubindia Article · 8 min read · Starting Up Audit / Certificate on Utilization of Govt Grant / Aid / Funds CAclubindia contributor
  23. This is the rare India-specific piece that puts real numbers on the true cost of chasing grants: it names SISFS (up to Rs 20... Swimming With Sharks Article · 20 min read · Starting Up Alternative Funding Strategies: Grants, Debt, and Non-Dilutive Capital in the Indian Ecosystem Swimming With Sharks (The Founder's Guide to Startup Funding)
  24. Jeryes co-founded Maqsam and says he never lost a pitch competition he entered, then states plainly that the wins made almost... Medium Essay · 10 min read · Starting Up How To Win Every Pitch Competition, And Why It Doesn't Matter Fouad Jeryes

Show the next 24

The hubs

eChai Partner Brands The partnership →